A rumored 48-unit housing development on land owned by Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton has energized nearby residents even before anything formal has been presented to either the East Hampton Town Board or the planning board.
A petition opposing such a project, started just over a month ago, has garnered over 400 signatures, and 16 residents spoke against any development at 60 Spinner Lane during the public comment portion of the Sept. 17 town board meeting. The project also hit the Sept. 14 agenda of the East Hampton and Sag Harbor Citizens Advisory Committees.
So, Spinner Lane is trending.
However, the Rev. Trevon Fergerson of Calvary Baptist said this week that “This whole development thing is not the vision. The 48-unit thing is not the vision.”
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request and shared with The Star show that Kirby Marcantonio, a developer, and Christopher Kelley, his lawyer, have been petitioning at least one member of the town board, Ian Calder-Piedmonte, for months about changing the town code to accommodate a potential housing development on the seven-acre parcel.
“We plan to have that plan soon,” Mr. Marcantonio said at the Sept. 17 meeting.
For one, the parcel would need to be added to the town’s affordable housing overlay district.
“As you know, we have proposed a concept for the Calvary Baptist Church campus for the construction of 48 units of housing in a mixed development which would include employer-sponsored rental housing as well as straight affordable housing to be owned and rented out or sold by the Calvary Baptist Church to income-qualified individuals,” Mr. Kelley wrote in a June 4 email with the subject “Ideas for Getting the Private Sector to Build Non-Employer Owned Moderate Income Housing.”
“We would like to meet with our client, Reverend Fergerson, other members of the local clergy, other stake holders, and you and possibly another member of the town board, maybe David Lys, to discuss your initial reactions to the concept and how we might move that project forward,” Mr. Kelley continued.
“As currently designed, it would require the elimination of the L.B.O. [Limited Business Overlay District] limitation on the employer-sponsored housing, or alternatively, a change to the L.B.O. criteria such that the L.B.O. district can be located in areas of town other than just along Montauk Highway and North Main Street. I appreciate the fact that you may not want this meeting to take place and the discussion about the code changes we are suggesting begun until after you get the Rent-Restricted Employer Sponsored Housing law enacted.”
In fact, at tonight’s meeting, the board is expected to adopt what is called a “negative declaration” on the Rent Restricted Employer Sponsored Housing law, meaning that it is deemed to have no major environmental impacts. It’s not uncommon to issue a negative declaration on legislation alone, since there are no environmental impacts until a project is tied to the code change. Still, the vote has some people worried that the code change is being “fast-tracked.”
In a phone call last Thursday, Mr. Fergerson, who has been in his role at Calvary for just over a year, expressed frustration that his church was being “maligned” and, until now, left out of the conversation. He says his church’s plans have been misrepresented.
He even went so far as to address the controversy in Sunday’s sermon.
“Not a developer, not anybody, can come and dismantle what God has put here for over 70 years,” he told his church, to shouted “Amens!”
“Calvary has not sold the land,” he continued. “Calvary has done nothing to the land next door. And I want to say this publicly: Nothing will be done to that land unless the church agrees with it. Until a meeting is had and a vote is carried and reflected in our trustees’ minutes, nothing will be done with the property next door.”
The church has a board of seven trustees, of which the Mr. Fergerson is one.
The church’s land abuts the Windmill Villages to the east and the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center to the north. Mr. Fergerson said the parcel abutting the church’s land to the south is owned by the town, which he said has also expressed interest in the past.
“We are afforded more than one option when it comes to building this,” he said.
After Sunday’s services, he expanded on his thoughts as he walked the land.
“Everyone who spoke at the town meeting, I don’t think they are against housing. I think they’re against the idea of 48 units on this small piece of land, and the parking.”
“If you do two spots per unit, that’s 100 cars, right here,” he said, pointing to the bare patch of earth right next to the pastor’s house. “My idea was not 48. My idea was a nice, small . . . the church agreed on, let’s do one unit, or one building, maybe two or three stories. Maybe on each floor, five apartments. Something I know this land could accommodate. That would not be a hindrance to anybody. One entrance, one exit.”
Mr. Fergerson said more than anything he hoped to help senior citizens, low-income residents, and to provide outreach and “food enrichment.”
“Out here people hear low-income and think it’s going to bring in the dregs of society. No it’s not. No, it’s not,” he said.
“When I interviewed for this position, the Lord gave me a vision, which was support for the community,” he continued. “It was not an idea for condos, mansions, or homes on our property. The idea was for a small complex of apartments that would be a blessing to those who are trying to live in, but who are getting priced out of, East Hampton. I have church members who are struggling to remain.”
“I think, people’s real issue is not with Calvary Baptist Church. People’s real issue is with Kirby Marcantonio. I want to be clear, this has nothing to do with him personally.”
Concerned residents could be forgiven for being confused.
In the last few years, Mr. Marcantonio has been the public face before the town board and planning board describing three different housing projects, each with different investors, models, and needs for code changes.
One, for 79 condominiums at 152 Three Mile Harbor Road, has already failed.
Mr. Marcantonio and Mr. Kelley had asked the town board to add the parcel to the affordable housing overlay district so it could accommodate added density. However, nearby residents flooded town board meetings with protests and circulated a petition.
While a formal vote to add the parcel to the overlay district was never held, it appeared that at least three board members were prepared to vote against it — Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, Councilwoman Cate Rogers, and Councilman David Lys.
Mr. Marcantonio and his investors ultimately pulled out of closing on the land and it was sold to another buyer.
Another project, at 350 Pantigo Road, where 47 units are imagined, has already been before the town planning board. However, that project seems dependent on the passage of the Rent Restricted Employer Sponsored Housing law.
Then there’s Calvary Baptist, where the community seems to have learned lessons from the Three Mile Harbor Road condominium fight, perplexing Mr. Fergerson, since he says the housing would be very different.
The petition that’s circulating also alleges a code violation on the land, questioning the legality of a “park and ride” service that occupied the space over the summer.
The pastor vehemently denied that accusation.
“It had nothing to do with Uber,” he said. “A contractor was building a house off Three Mile Harbor Road and asked if they could park there. They gave us a small donation.”
He said not a single neighbor or town board member has contacted the church about the potential housing plan.
“We want to be a blessing to the community forever,” he said. “This is our legacy. This is not a money grab. We are just in the exploratory phase. No contract has been signed. Nothing. People have just taken this and run with it.”
